Govt Hiding Future W&S Price Rises From Voters
www.tas.greens.org.au
The Tasmanian Greens today revealed that the crucial review of the water and sewerage interim price order (IPO), which will show whether or not this year’s price rises for water and sewerage provision were justified, as well as the level of price rises in future years, has been pushed back to April 2010 – six weeks after the State election. [1]
Greens Water spokesperson Tim Morris MP said the new water and sewerage charges are a big issue in the minds of many Tasmanian voters, and it is sneaky and dishonest for the Bartlett Government to have delayed the process so much in 2009 that the review of the IPO will now not be published until just after the State election.
“Anyone would think the Bartlett Government is ashamed of the litany of fiasco’s associated with its water and sewerage reforms, and that it has deliberately delayed the completion of the IPO review until after the State election in order to minimise the damage from voters infuriated by massive water and sewerage charge hikes.”
“The Greens are reiterating their call for the review of the IPO to be brought forward so that voters can cast their ballots at next year’s State election with full knowledge of the scope and scale of the price rises they will be paying for water and sewerage in future years,” said Mr Morris.
Reference:
[1] “Review the water and sewerage interim price order – April 2010.”
[“Annual Report 2008-09,” Office of the Economic Regulator, released October 2009, p47.]
Tim Morris MP Greens Water Spokesperson
